North East RadioWatch: January 29, 1998

A Sinclair Sale

Sinclair Broadcasting is finally free to sell four Rochester, NEW
YORK stations that it hasn't even bought yet. WBBF (950), WBEE-FM
(92.5), WQRV (93.3 Avon), and WKLX (98.9) are among the Heritage Media
stations Sinclair is buying -- and they're part of the group that both
Entercom and Jacor wanted to buy. Both companies sued to get the
Rochester stations, along with a 2 FM - 1 AM combo in Portland,
Oregon. Jacor dropped its lawsuit earlier in the month, and Entercom
dropped its suit this week after reaching a deal to pay $126.5 million
for the seven stations.

NERW wonders how long Entercom will hang on to the Rochester outlets.
Portland is already an Entercom market, with 2 FMs and an AM there,
but you'd have to go to Florida or Missouri to find the closest
Entercom stations to Rochester. NERW suspects the Rochester group may
get spun yet again in the near future...stay tuned.

Meantime, Sinclair may not be gone long from Rochester TV. The group
is reportedly eyeing Sullivan Broadcasting, which owns Rochester Fox
affiliate WUHF (Channel 31) and Buffalo Fox station WUTV (Channel
29). Sinclair is already buying Syracuse's Fox outlet, WSYT (Channel
68), and it's a major radio group owner in Buffalo. By the way, WUTV
is finally giving up its secondary UPN affiliation. The weblet moves
to little WNGS (Channel 67) Springville, which is not yet seen by most
Buffalo-area cable homes.

Elsewhere in Rochester radio, Eric Anderson is now handling
programming duties for AAA WMAX-FM (106.7 Irondequoit)/WMHX(102.3
Canandaigua) in addition to modern rock WNVE (95.1 South Bristol).
Former "Max" PD Tom Sheridan now has a new assignment as morning jock
on sister Jacor AC WVOR (100.5).

On the TV side of things, WHEC (Channel 10) reporter Kendis Gibson is
off to bigger things; he's headed for a reporter job at Fox O&O WTXF
(Channel 29) in Philadelphia -- just three years after starting his
very first paying TV job at WHEC.

Down the road in Buffalo, Justin Case is the new PD at country WYRK
(106.5), arriving from WDSY in Pittsburgh. Competing country station
WNUC (107.7 Wethersfield Township) has dismissed PD/morning host Tom
Donahue...no replacement has been named yet.

Another victim of the North Country ice storm has recovered.
Watertown's WJNY (90.9) has returned to simulcasting WCNY (91.3) from
Syracuse. WJNY had been off the air even after power was restored at
its transmitter site; the Syracuse engineers wanted to make sure the
power supply was stable before turning WJNY back on.

In the Glens Falls market, the WBZA call letters have moved up the
dial. Their longtime home at 1230 is now WMML, while the former WSTL
at 1410 in South Glens Falls is now WBZA. No word yet on format
changes; more next week, we hope.

And the radio dial between Syracuse and Utica is about to get a bit
more crowded; the many applicants for 100.3 Sylvan Beach have asked
the FCC to approve a settlement. No word yet on who the lucky winner
of that construction permit will be.

In CONNECTICUT, Mike Raub is the new operations manager at Clear
Channel's New Haven stations, WELI (960)/WAVZ (1300)/WKCI (101.3
Hamden). Another New Haven station, WNHC (1340), is the focus of a
battle between Yale Broadcasting (WYBC 94.3 New Haven) and Buckley
Broadcasting (WDRC AM-FM Hartford, WWCO Waterbury, WSNG Torrington).
WNHC owner Willis Broadcasting is in bankruptcy, and while Buckley has
reportedly offered $600,000 for the station (presumably to add to the
WDRC/WWCO/WSNG standards simulcast), WYBC wants Willis liquidated.
That's not sitting well with the Greater New Haven Clergy Association,
which says WYBC is just trying to silence WNHC and assure itself the
entire black audience in New Haven. The dispute will be heard
February 11 in Federal bankruptcy court.

Arthur Gopen, AKA Hartford morning jock Gary Craig, is off the hook
for a stunt that sent police rushing to a home in Meriden last year.
Craig told a caller that he was a repairman at her home -- and
pretended to be rummaging through her bedroom drawers. The caller was
not amused; she called the police. Charges against Craig were
dismissed last week.

Jerry Kristafer, the WDRC-FM DJ who was fired last fall, was back on
the air this week, doing fill-in up the road at Springfield's WHYN-FM
(93.1).

RHODE ISLAND's dance-CHR station is getting a new moniker this
weekend. At 6 o'clock Saturday night, WWKX (106.3 Attleboro) and WAKX
(102.7 Narragansett Pier) will dump their "Kix" nickname to become
"Hot 106." It's no coincidence that competing CHR WFHN (107.1
Fairhaven MA) is quickly changing the names of features like the "Hot
7 at 7"...

The WICE calls that vanished from Ocean State radio last year have
resurfaced on a pirate. "WICE-FM" is operating on 89.3, supposedly
from Johnston, with a mix of classical and jazz music.

In MASSACHUSETTS, there's a new owner at WMSX (1410) in Brockton.
Donald Sandler's Metro South Broadcasting will get a reported $410,000
from Monte Bowen's Griot Communications for the South Shore talker.

Some changes on the talk radio dial in and around Boston: WBZ
overnight veteran Bob Raleigh is finally getting his wish to cut back
to four nights a week. Frequent BZ fill-in host Kevin Sowyrda will
take over the Sunday night-Monday morning shift, with Raleigh holding
forth Monday through Thursday nights. Steve LeVeille is handling Norm
Nathan's old Friday/Saturday overnight spot, while Jordan Rich has
been doing Saturday night-Sunday morning on 1030. Up in Lowell, half
of the WCAP (980) morning team of Hancock and Dunn is out. Rich
Hancock leaves 'CAP after two years; Kevin Dunn will handle mornings
solo.

Two veteran Boston DJs are out of work. Joe Martelle has been
officially dismissed from afternoon duty at WROR (105.7 Framingham),
with J.J. Wright still filling in while a permanent replacement is
named. And JoJo Kincaid is reportedly gone from WEGQ (93.7 Lawrence)
as well.

The Lowell Sun reports the death on Monday of Bernard
Silva, who used
the air name "Mark Williams" on stations that included WLLH Lowell,
WKOX Framingham, and WTAG/WSRS Worcester.

The big news from MAINE: Portland-market classical station WPKM
(106.3 Scarborough) is becoming the latest link in the "W-Bach"
chain. New owner Mariner Broadcasting will rename the station WBQW;
it'll simulcast WBQQ (99.3 Kennebunk).

Sanford's WCDQ (92.1) is looking for a new tower company; the station's web site says the company
hired to repair the ice storm damage to its tower has backed out,
leaving the station at just 1000 watts ERP until a replacement tower
can be erected.

This from VERMONT: Williston's WTBC (90.9) is changing calls -- to
WTBC-FM. The change is to accomodate WTNW (1230) in Tuscaloosa,
Alabama, which is changing calls to WTBC. Oddly, the FCC database
still doesn't reflect the call change in Alabama, much less the
existence of the Vermont station. NERW believes WTBC-FM is a
yet-to-be-built construction permit.

Across the border: CKLY (910) in Lindsay, Ontario is the latest
Canadian AM to get permission to move to FM. CKLY will simulcast for
three months or so on 91.9 with 20 kilowatts before moving to FM for
good sometime this summer. Up in New Brunswick, CHSJ (700) in Saint
John has started broadcasting on 94.1 MHz; the AM signal, which is
well-heard in coastal New England, will go silent come spring.

A few weeks ago, we ran highlights of the fall '97 Arbitrons for
Boston -- now we'll do the same for the region's smaller markets.

State by state, we'll start off in NEW HAMPSHIRE. In Manchester, WZID
kept its top spot, falling from a majestic 21.8 share 12+ in the last
book to a still respectable 17.9 this time. Trailing considerably
were WGIR-FM, WOKQ, WAAF, WFEA, and WGIR. Out in the Seacoast
market, WOKQ kept its number one spot despite a slight ratings drop.
WHEB was number two...with WERZ, WBCN, WRKO, WZID, WTSN, and WXBB/WXBP
trailing -- the last pair dropping slightly despite the addition of
the WXBP simulcast. The new oldies WQSO picked up slightly in ratings
from its days as AC WSRI, but still trailed the pack.

Here's how the smaller MASSACHUSETTS markets stack up: Worcester's
WSRS picked up more than 2 share points to stay at number one, with
sister station WTAG gaining also to stay in second place 12+.
Worcester's WXLO and WAAF were next, followed by Boston's WJMN and
WCRB. In Springfield, WMAS-FM moved into the top spot 12+, with
country WPKX slipping to second, followed by WHYN-FM, WAQY, and WHYN.
On Cape Cod, WQRC stayed firmly on top, followed by a surging WOCN,
then WXTK, WCIB, WFCC (posting a 3-point drop), WKPE, and WCOD. The
New Bedford market was led by WFHN, jumping nearly three points, with
Providence-market stations WWLI, WHJY, and WCTK following.

In RHODE ISLAND, WWLI led the Providence fall book 12+, with WHJY
slipping slightly to take #2, followed by WWBB, WCTK, WPRO, and
WPRO-FM. The change from dance WDGF to classic-rock WHKK resulted in
little change at the low-rated 100.3 Middletown outlet, while WLKW's
standards format lost nearly half its listenership in the move from
the 790 Providence facility to the inferior 550 in Pawtucket. 790's
new sports format as WSKO didn't show at all.

Moving along to CONNECTICUT, WTIC lost nearly a point but stayed on
top in the Hartford 12+ numbers, followed by WRCH and WWYZ, both also
down, and rising WTIC-FM and WKSS. Urban WNEZ on AM checked in ahead
of classic rocker WHCN on the FM band. In New Haven, WKCI was down
but still number one, followed by Bridgeport's WEZN, a flat WELI, a
sagging WPLR, and a flat WWYZ. Waterbury found WWYZ on top, with WKSS
and WTIC both following. WDRC-FM was fourth, and WATR showed a big
drop into fifth place. WQGN dominated the New London book, trailed by
country WCTY, plummeting more than six points from the last book
there. In third was the new simulcast of WNLC AM-FM, followed by
Rhode Island's WWRX, WBMW, and WTYD.

In the Fairfield County markets, WICC led in Bridgeport, followed by
WEZN and WEBE. Stamford's ratings were topped by the Big Apple's WCBS
and WFAN, with WEBE the top local signal. Danbury's WDAQ and WLAD
were in the top spots, followed by WEZN and WRKI. WDAQ/WLAD's new
sister signal, oldies daytimer WREF, remained down in the noise at the
bottom of the pack.

And in NEW YORK, Albany's WGNA remained solidly on top, followed by
WGY (also up), WFLY, WYJB, WQBK/WQBJ, and WRVE. New sports signal
WTMM stayed flat at a meager 0.6 share 12+, unchanged from its old
talk format as WQBK. In Syracuse, country WBBS stayed flat at number
one, with CHR WNTQ plummeting from second to fourth 12+, WSYR taking
over number two, and WAQX gaining to slip into third place. New
smooth-jazz station WHCD improved only fractionally on its old AC
format as WPCX, remaining among the also-rans in Syracuse. Ithaca's
WYXL remained solidly on top, followed by WQNY, WHCU, and WIII. In
Rochester, news-talk WHAM and country WBEE-FM both gained from summer,
followed by AC WRMM, CHR WPXY (down more than two points from its
strong summer book), and WCMF. Buffalo's WYRK retook the top spot
with a strong 12+ performance in the fall book, with the Bills helping
WBEN to gain strength as well. AC WJYE, classic rock WGRF, and urban
WBLK rounded out the top five. A format change to modern AC "River"
did little to help cross-border CKEY, which stayed below a 1 share,
trailing three other Canadian stations (CILQ, CFNY, and CHTZ) that
don't even target Buffalo as a market.

Downstate, WHUD and WSPK both gained strength to lead the
Newburgh-Middletown market, with WPDH, WRRV, and WCZX all trailing.
In Poughkeepsie, WPDH was in number one despite a sagging book, with
WSPK and WCZX on the rise, followed by WRWD and WBUZ. The change from
simulcasting AAA WDST to modern rock WRRV helped WRRB (96..9
Arlington) to pick up nicely; NERW suspects the sizable gain in WRRV's
own numbers in that market may also have come from WRRB listenership.
Put the two together and it's good for fifth place.

A few more of the stragglers next week...stay tuned for those exciting
Portland, Binghamton, Elmira, Bangor, and Burlington numbers....not to
mention Utica-Rome and Watertown. Can't wait, can you?

That's it for this week...see you next Thursday with much more from
across the radio dials.